Automatic regulator



1951 J. REBER, JR 2,994,185

AUTOMATIC REGULATOR Filed Oct. 21, 1959 RA TE REM/LA we INVENTOR John Reer, J1;

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,994,185 AUTOMATIC REGULATOR John Reber, Jr., Manheim, 'Pa., assignor to Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Oct. 21, 1959, Ser. No. 847,785 21 Claims. (Cl. 58109) This invention relates to a timepiece with an automatic regulator and more particularly relates to a timepiece so constructed as to automatically accomplish regulation thereof when the hands of the timepiece are set.

Conventional timepieces, such as watches and clocks, are ordinarily provided with a regulator which is accessible either from inside the case or from the back of the timepiece so that the timepiece may be regulated to keep accurate time. In certain types of timepieces, however, such as automobile clocks, the mounting of the clock makes it difiicult to provide a readily accessible regulator which is not also subject to undesired tampering, such as by children. In solving this difficulty, it has been proposed to provide an automatic regulator which is actuated to cause regulation each time that the hands of the clock are set to correct an inaccurate time indication.

In known devices of this type, if the hands of the clock are inadvertently turned in the wrong direction, a rate regulation adjustment is made in the wrong sense and, because of a lock-out feature customarily employed, it is impossible to adjust the rate regulator in the correct sense prior to elapse of the lock-out time, customarily twelve hours. Rate regulation is normally accomplished by a direct drive from the setting device from the regulator or from the time measuring means to the regulator and limits are provided to limit the amount of regulation.

According to the present invention it has now been found that satisfactory automatic regulation may be readily achieved employing a lock-out feature in which an inadvertent initial turning of the clock setting means in the wrong direction does not result in a semi-permanent rate adjustment in the wrong sense. This is made possible by deferring the actual rate regulation until after the clock setting has been completed. Concurrently with this feature there is incorporated the desirable feature of having an automatic rate regulating adjustment which is actuated by the setting means and which is proportional to the setting adjustment up to a predetermined maximum so long as the clock hands are not set beyond a predetermined maximum. The energy for driving the regulator is derived from a cocked spring provided specially for this purpose and not from the setting device or time measuring means. With such an arrangement limit devices are found unnecessary.

It is accordingly, a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic regulator for a timepiece.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a variable amount of rate regulation for each change of setting of the clock mechanism.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a lock-out feature to prevent regulation during a predetermined time interval following a previous regulation.

It is still another object of the present invention to delay the adjustment of the rate regulating means until after the setting operation is complete so that an inadvertent turning of the hands of the clock in the wrong direction may be corrected immediately without adversely affecting the rate regulating means.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a timepiece having automatic regulation wherein Patented Aug. 1, 1961 the regulation is effected by means of energy derived from a spring provided for this purpose and no limit.

devices are necessary.

These and further objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification and claims and appended drawings where:

FIGURE 1 of the drawing is a perspective view of the automatic regulator of the present invention with parts broken away for the purpose of clarity; and

FIGURE 2 of the drawing shows the position of the lockout mechanism after a setting of the hands has been accomplished.

Referring to the drawing there is seen an automatic regulator attached to a clock having a frame 10, hour wheel 12, hour hand 14 on shaft 15 and a minute wheel 16 on shaft 17. A setting stafi 18 carries a setting knob 20 external of the frame 10 and a spring 22 constantly urges the setting knob 20 into its inoperative position as shown. The setting staff 18 carries at its lower end a setting pinion 24 having a disc-like skirt 26 mounted thereabove.

Adjacent the setting knob 20 and mounted parallel to setting staff 18 there is provided an idler shaft 28 which is spring biased upwardly into the position shown by coil spring 30 which may be guided in the watch frame 32. Idler shaft 28 carries a gear 34 which is engageable by the setting pinion 24 on setting staff 18 as the latter is moved downwardly. Gear 34 is also engageable by the disc-like skirt 26 which, after engagement, drives the gear 34 and shaft 28 of the automatic regulator means downwardly against the bias of spring 30.

Shaft 28 also carries a regulator actuator arm 36 having a single tooth 38 for engagement with a gear 40 on a shaft 42. This shaft is adapted to drive a worm or other linkage controlling the rate regulator indicated at 44, the single tooth 38 being engaged with gear 40 when shaft 28 is in its upper position as shown in the drawing. After the disc-like skirt 26 engages gear 34, it moves the automatic regulating assembly including gear 34 and shaft 28 downwardly until tooth 38 on regulator actuator arm 36 disengages gear 40, this position of arm 36 corresponding to the lowest position of the setting knob 20 and shaft 18. If the setting knob 20 is then rotated, pinion 24 sets the hands of the clock through the minute wheel 16 in the customary manner and also causes rotation of gear 34. An adjustment of the rate regulator 44 is prevented at this time because tooth 38 is not in position to mesh with gear 40.

Shaft 28 also carries a heart-shaped cam 46 which contains a hole 48 which is adapted to be engaged by a pin 50 as will be described hereinafter. The mounting of gear 34 to shaft 28 is by means of collar 52 and resilient washer clutch 54 which provides a friction clutch arrangement, so that if the hole 48 in heart cam 46 is engaged by pin 50, rotation of gear 34 by setting pinion 24 will not rotate shaft 28 and arm 36.

The setting staff 18 carries a protrusion indicated gen erally at 56 having a first gently sloping conical surface 58 and a second steeply sloped conical surface 60. A bifurcated spring lever indicated generally at 62 extends closely adjacent setting staff 18 and may be attached to the frame of the timepiece by screws 64. This spring lever 62 has an upper furcation 66 which is downwardly offset to provide a dog leg 68 terminating in an end 70. The lower furcation 78 of spring lever 62 carries pin 50. The dog leg 68 of upper furcation 66 is adapted to engage a lever extension or finger 72 of a three finger lever 74 suitably mounted for rotation about a pin 75. The three finger lever 74 is biased in a counter clockwise direction as by a coil spring 76 and is latched in the posi: tion shown by finger 72 engaging dog leg 68.

The three finger lever 74 has a second finger 82 adapted to be engaged by a pin 84 which is mounted on a disc or plate member 86 attached to shaft 15 by a collar 88 and friction clutch 90. The disc or plate member 86 rotates with the time measuring means (shaft 15) in a' clockwise direction. The three finger lever 74 is also provided with a third finger 92 on the opposite side of shaft 15 in a position to be engaged by the pin 84 during its rotation. If, when pin 84 engages finger 92, the finger 72 is latched against the dog leg 68, further movement of pin 84 is arrested and clutch 90 simply slips.

The operation of the automatic regulator is as follows:

Setting knob 20 is depressed against the bias of spring 22 thereby moving downwardly the shaft 18, protrusion 56, pinion 24 and disc-like skirt 26 Pinion 24 engages minute wheel '16 and gear 34 and moves its associated shaft 28 downwardly so that regulator arm 36 disengages with gear 40.

' As the setting staff 18 is depressed, conical surface 58 on protrusion 56 engages the bifurcated spring lever 62 to deflect it momentarily in a lateral direction thereby maintaining the finger 72 in its latched position as shown. The hole 48 in heart cam 46 is not engaged by pin 50 so that idler shaft 28 is free to rotate.

Rotation of the setting stem 18 sets the clock hands by rotating minute wheel 16 and rotation of shaft 28 is effected through pinion 24, gear 34 and friction clutch to idler shaft 28. Since the regulator actuator arm 36 is not in engagement with gear 40, no rate regulation is effected as the hands of the clock are set. When the setting knob 20 is released, upper conical surface 60 on protrusion 56 has a sufficiently steep slope to effect both a raising and a lateral movement of bifurcated spring lever 62 thereby unlatching finger 72 from beneath dog leg 68. At this time spring 76 moves the three finger lever 74 sharply in a counter clockwise direction until projection 80 on finger 72 engages the surface of hearts haped cam 46 and restores shaft 28 to its neutral position as shown. This restoring movement occurs after the shaft 28 has moved upwardly and thus the tooth 38 of regulator actuator arm 36 is in engagement with gear 40 so that rotation of this gear effects an adjustment in the rate regulator 44 proportional to the original amount of rotation of the shaft 18 so long as that rotation did not exceed the amount necessary to make the tooth 38 clear gear 40.

If the rotation of the setting stem did exceed this amount, the amount of regulation is not increased but remains at the maximum necessary to restore the regulator arm and tooth to their neutral position.

When the bifurcated spring 62 returns downwardly after having been lifted by protrusion 56 and conical surface 60 the end 70 of the upper furcation is now on top of finger 72. This effects a lifting of the entire bifurcated spring lever 62 and causes pin 50 on lower furcation 78 to engage in hole 48 of the heart-shaped cam 46 as shown in FIGURE 2. If the hands of the clock are now again reset, the downward movement of protrusion 56 does not move end 70 of upper furcation 66 from atop finger 72 and does not release pin 50 from hole 48 in heart-shaped cam 46. Thus rotation of the setting stem does not cause rotation of shaft 28 and no regulation is introduced when the setting staff moves upwardly.

As time passes the disc 86 and pin 84 on shaft 15 rotates and finally moves finger 82 of three finger lever 74 sufficiently clockwise to allow finger 72 to escape from under end 70 of upper furcation 66 whereupon it is latched behind dog leg 68. At this time pin 58 on lower furcation 78 is moved downward out of hole 48 to free heart cam 46. The pin 84 on disc 86 continues to rotate until it locks against finger 92 where it remains until another setting of the clock frees finger 72 from dog leg 68. Since disc 86 makes one rotation every 12 hours the clock can be regulated no oftener than once every twelve hours.

It will be apparent that there has been provided an automatic rate regulating means in which a variable amount of rate regulation is possible for each change of setting of the clock mechanism. A lock-out device is employed which prevents regulation during a predetermined time interval following a previous regulation; It is important to note that the setting adjustments and rate regulating adjustment are made in consecutive order so that an inadvertent turning of the hands of the clock in the wrong direction may be corrected immediately without establishing an incorrect rate regulation of the clock. In addition to this, the energy used to effect regulation is derived from a spring provided specially for this purpose.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and'not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is':

1. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, setting means for setting said time indicating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, automatic regulating means actuated by said setting means for causing adjustment of said rate regulating means, gear means normally in mesh to adjust said rate regulator, and means for moving said gear means out of mesh when said setting means is moved to its operative position and into mesh when said setting means is moved to its inoperative position.

2. In a timepiece as set out in claim '1 including lever means positioned by said time measuring means, means controlled by said setting means to releasably hold said lever means in a latched position, said automatic regulating means having a reciprocable shaft, and cam means on said reciprocable shaft of said automatic regulating means, said lever means being engageable with said cam means to restore said shaft of said automatic regulating means to a neutral position.

3. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means; time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means; setting means for setting said time indicating means; said setting means being movable into an operative position and to an inoperative position; rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means; an automatic regulating means assembly comprising a reciprocable shaft, a gear mounted on said shaft for reciprocation therewith, and a regulator actuator arm mounted on said shaft and engageable with said rate regulator means when said setting means is in its inoperative position; gear means on said setting means engageable with said gear on said shaft of said automatic regulating means upon said setting means being moved into its operative position; and means for causing engagement of said regulator actuator arm with said rate regulator means when said setting means is in its inoperative position.

4. In a timepiece a set out in claim 3 including means to lock said automatic regulating means in position for a predetermined time interval following an adjustment of said rate regulating means.

5. In a timepiece as set out in claim 4 including friction clutch means between said shaft and said gear of said automatic regulating means to permit slippage between said shaft and said gear when said automatic rate regulating means is locked in position.

6. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, reciprocable setting means for setting said time in- :licating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, automatic regulating neans reciprocally mounted in said timepiece, means on said setting means to move said automatic regulating means to an inoperative position with respect to said rate regulating'means when said setting means is in its operative position, means on said setting means to rotate said automatic regulating means from a neutral position, spring means to restore said automatic regulating means to an operative position with respect to said rate regulating means, and means to rotate said automatic regulating means to its neutral position.

7. In a timepiece as set out in claim 6 including latch- .ng means to prevent movement of said means to rotate said automatic regulating means to its neutral position until said setting means is moved to its inoperative posi- ;ion.

8. In a timepiece as set out in claim 7 wherein said latching means consists of a bifurcated lever mounted on one end to the frame of the timepiece and extending closely adjacent said setting means, and said means to rotate said automatic regulating means to its neutral position consists of a lever biased toward said automatic regulating means, said bifurcated lever having an offset portion on one of said furcations to latch said biased lever.

9. In a timepiece as set out in claim 8 wherein said setting means is provided with a protrusion having a first conical surface engageable with said bifurcated lever to cause lateral movement thereof and a second conical surface engageable with said bifurcated lever to cause both a lifting and lateral movement of said bifurcated lever to effect the release of said biased lever.

10. In a timepiece as set out in claim 6 including means to lock said automatic regulating means in place for a predetermined period of time after a rate regulating means adjustment has been made.

11. In a timepiece as set out in claim 8 including cam means carried by said automatic regulating means, said cam means being engaged by said biased lever to return said automatic regulating means to its neutral position.

12. In a timepiece as set out in claim 11 wherein said cam means is provided with an aperture and the other furcation of said bifurcated lever carries a pin insertable into said aperture in said cam means to lock said automatic regulating means in position for a predetermined time interval following an adjustment of said rate regulating means.

13. In a timepiece as set out in claim 6 including cam means carried by said automatic regulating means, and wherein said means to rotate said automatic regulating means to its neutral position includes a multiple prong lever having a first prong biased toward said cam means on said automatic regulating means.

14. In a timepiece as set out in claim 13 including latching means engageable with said first prong of said multiple prong lever to prevent movement of said multiple prong lever until said setting means is moved to its inoperative position.

15. In a timepiece as set out in claim 14 including means driven by said time measuring means and engageable with a second prong of said multiple prong lever to re-latch said first prong of said multiple prong lever with said latching means after an adjustment of said rate regulating means has been made.

16. In a timepiece as set out in claim 15 including a third prong on said multiple prong lever adapted to stop said means driven by said time measuring means and friction clutch means between said time measuring means and said means driven by said time measuring means.

17. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, setting means for setting said time indicating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, and automatic regulating means including spring means cooked by said time measuring means and adapted when released to adjust said rate regulating means, and means associated with said setting means for releasing said spring means to cause adjustment of said rate regulating means after said timepiece has been set.

18. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, setting means for setting said time indicating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, and automatic regulating means including spring means cocked by said time measuring means and adapted when released to adjust said rate regulating means, and means associated with said setting means for releasing said spring means to cause adjustment of said rate regulating means after said timepiece has been set, and means for preventing readjustment of said rate regulating means for a predetermined time after said first adjustment.

19. In a timepiece as set out in claim 17, discontinuous drive means between said automatic regulating means and said regulating means whereby adjustment of said regulating means is a proportional but non-linear function of the rotation of said setting means.

20. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, setting means for setting said time indicating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, and automatic regulating means including cockable spring means adapted when released to adjust said rate regulating means, means actuated by said time measuring means for cocking said spring means, and means associated with said setting means for releasing said spring means to cause adjustment of said rate regulating means after said timepiece has been set.

21. In a timepiece comprising time measuring means, time indicating means actuated by said time measuring means, setting means for setting said time indicating means, rate regulating means for regulating the rate of said time measuring means, and automatic regulating means including cockable spring means adapted when released to adjust said rate regulating means, means actuated by said time measuring means for cocking said spring means, and means associated with said setting means for causing said spring means to be uncocked to cause adjustment of said rate regulating means after said timepiece has been set.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,542,430 Ra'binow Feb. 20, 1951 

